How to Save a Life
by MerlexAddict2017
Summary: Fourteen years ago she was given a second chance. She was saved by a man who had such an impact on her that she became a doctor because of him. On her first day at Grey-Sloan Memorial she is put in a situation that brought her back fourteen years. One she never imagined being in. One-shot, influenced by 11x21.


**So this story takes place 14 years in the future, but it's being told somewhat as if it was in the present day. I know if I had to actually tell it 14 years in the future I would of had to change so much, and I really like where all the characters are presently.** **Hopefully you guys find it easy to follow.**

* * *

It was like any other day at the hospital, except this day was one the attending's looked forward to all year: a new class of interns. Baby chicks and ducks as they called them. Sure they hated interns, but they loved seeing them for the first time, seeing their wide eye, surgery hungry, terrified bodies walk into the hospital. All the attending's got ready to go sit in the OR gallery and listen to Dr. Webber give his famous speech.

 _"Each of you comes here hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago, you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to your breaking point. Look around you, say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play, is up to you."_

All the attending's knew Richard Webber's speech off by heart. The majority of them had been given the speech by Dr. Webber when they were interns. They remembered it so well. Like it was yesterday. The attending's looked down into OR at the new doctors. They each guessed who they would like, who they wouldn't and who they thought would be good.

"Sometimes you can just tell by looking" spoke up Meredith.

Everyone around her nodded in agreement. It was evident right from the start that this year's class had more females than males. In the eyes of some was fear, in the eyes of others there was wonder. One intern in particular, Winnie Thompson, couldn't wait to get started.

Dr. Webber stood outside the intern locker room and assigned each intern to their resident. "Michael Taylor, Kaitlyn Moore, Parker Hand and Winnie Thompson, you're with Dr. Wilson." Jo stood next to Dr. Webber as he called out the names of the interns and greeted them. She took the four of them to the nurses' station and got them their pagers. She looked at them sternly, hoping to put a little fear in them.

"I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule one, don't bother sucking up, I already hate you and that's not going to change. Rule number two, nurses will page you. You answer every page at a run. Rule number three, if I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number four, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. And rule number five, when I move, you move." Jo looked at them very seriously before being paged to the ER.

"Alright everyone, this is it. Let's go."

* * *

"Listen up everyone, we have incoming traumas, so stick with your residents and do as they say" instructed Owen as he gathered all the new interns and their residents into the ER.

"I need two residents outside and two to stay in here."

Jo and Ben were the first to raise their hands and headed to the ambulance bay with their interns. Jo's intern Winnie was particularly excited that her resident was so eager and she was able to get right into the action.

"Warren, you take the first ambulance, I'll take the second", Jo spoke up and they ran to the incoming ambulances.

"What do we have?" Jo asked the paramedic.

"Male, late 40's, MVC. Abdominal injuries and what appears to be a pretty bad head lac. Unresponsive and became technocratic on route." Jo instructed her interns to get the man inside and into a trauma room. She followed quickly behind.

Once in the trauma room, Jo quickly began to assess the man's injuries.

"I need all trauma labs, a portable x-ray and someone page Grey and Shepherd. This man has abdominal injuries and a pretty bad head lac." The interns quickly started to get the labs. Parker ran to get the x-ray, while Kaitlyn paged for Dr. Grey and Dr. Shepherd.

Once Dr. Grey arrived she took over from Jo and began assessing the man's internal injuries: "What do we know Wilson?"

"John Doe, late 40's, car vs. truck. Has been unresponsive since we brought him in but heart rate and blood pressure have been stable after receiving an IV drip. He has a pretty bad head lac so I paged for Dr. Shepherd. He also has some abdominal tenderness."

Meredith quickly assessed the patient and stated there was some abdominal tenderness and needed an ultrasound. Winnie brought it to her. She placed the ultrasound on his belly and quickly noted the damage.

"There's free fluid in the belly, possible liver lac. I need to open him up. This man needs an OR."

Jo looked at her interns just stood there, "Well you heard her, someone page upstairs and get an OR ready." Michael was quick to jump into action, while Winnie was the first to notice that the patient had started to wake up.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Thompson, can you tell me your name?" The man was trying to form words, but nothing was coming out. Jo took notice and got someone to page Dr. Shepherd again.

"Can you squeeze my hand?" Winnie wanted so desperately for the man to squeeze her hand but he didn't. Just then, Dr. Shepherd walked in.

She checked the man's head lac and his pupils. She noticed that one was dilated and unresponsive and the man needed an OR as soon as possible.

"OR three will be ready and waiting for us", Meredith spoke up and said. "He has a liver lac so I need to do a laparotomy. We can work together to save this man." Amelia nodded in agreement and went to prep for the surgery.

While Jo went to get ready for surgery, she left her interns with the man, making sure that he was consistently monitored and remained stable. Once the OR was ready, Meredith came down looking for Jo, but was faced with two interns, Winnie and Kaitlyn. She told them they were moving the patient and to let Dr. Wilson know. Winnie, who was still by the man's side spoke softly to him letting him know everything that was happening. She wasn't sure if he could hear her, or even if he understood what she was saying, but she knew it had to help.

Meredith got the man ready to be moved and instructed Winnie to help her get the patient to the elevator where Dr. Wilson would be waiting. Winnie lifted the rails up on the gurney and squeezed the man's hand to let him know everything would be alright.

"You're going to be ok", she spoke softly to the man. "It's a beautiful day to save lives."

Her words left Meredith cold. The colour had rushed from her face and she was unable to move.

"What did you just say?" Meredith looked at her stone cold.

'What? Oh, it's a beautiful day to save lives?" Winnie responded, looking confused as to why Meredith was questioning her.

"Why did you say that? Where did you hear that?" before Meredith could even get a response the patient started crashing.

"Ok, this man can't wait any longer we have to go."

Meredith and Winnie both ran to the elevator where Jo and Amelia were waiting to take the man upstairs. Meredith jumped into the elevator with Jo and Amelia. She stood in the door of the elevator watching Winnie as the doors closed. She had no words. _A beautiful day to save lives. That wasn't a thing. That was Derek's thing. No one else said that. Why is she saying that?_ Meredith's mind was racing. She had so many questions. So many things she wanted to ask that intern, but right now she had to save her patient.

* * *

Meredith, Amelia and Jo worked on the man for hours. Michael, Parker, Kaitlyn and Winnie watched in awe from the OR gallery as the trio worked together to save the patient. Meredith was able to stop the internal bleeding and Amelia was able to control the brain swelling. The patient still had a long road ahead, but so far they seemed optimistic.

"Wilson, take him to the ICU and monitor him closely. Let me know if anything changes and get updated labs in two hours. Also, when they figure out who this man is page me so I can speak to his family." Jo nodded and wheeled the patient out of the OR. She was greeted at the door by her interns, who helped her get the man to the ICU.

Meredith and Amelia were in the scrub room when Amelia noticed Meredith zoning right out. "Mer, are you ok?" Amelia asked her, but she wasn't sure she even heard her.

"Meredith…"

"What? Oh sorry, yeah I'm fine." She responded unconvincing but Amelia shrugged it off, assuming she was just tired or worried about the patient.

"Alright, well I'll see you later. I'll check on the patient in an hour to see how he's doing." Meredith nodded as Amelia left the scrub room.

She stood there with her hands on the scrub sink trying to sturdy herself. She closed her eyes trying to figure out why that girl had said "today is a beautiful day to save lives". _How did she even know about that? That was Derek's thing. Derek has been gone too long for her to have seen him operate. Maybe he operated on her? No, I think we would know. Who is this girl?_

As Meredith's mind raced, Alex noticed her stood up in the scrub room.

"Mer, what are you doing?" Alex asked, somewhat concerned, but not at all surprised. She looked at him and he could instantly tell she was deep in thought.

"Jo's intern. Have you met her? Dr. Thompson, Winnie?" she asked Alex, hoping he would say he knew her life story.

"No, I just got out of surgery. I haven't met any of them yet. Why? Did this one do something?" Meredith shook her head, but Alex knew something was up.

"Your mouth is saying one thing, but your eyes are saying another. What did she do?" Meredith loved that Alex knew her so well. She didn't even have to say anything and he knew when something was up. Meredith began to tell, him, stumbling on her words. This worried Alex even more.

"It's ok Mer, just tell me. Whatever she did I'll deal with it."

"She didn't do anything. It's what she said." Now Alex was even more confused.

"What she said? What did she say?" Meredith looked at him, she had tears in her eyes.

"Mer, did she say something to you? About you or…"

"It's a beautiful day to save lives."

By now Alex was so confused he didn't even know what she was talking about.

"What are you talking about?"

"Derek."

"Derek?" Now Alex's mind was racing. Why was she talking about Derek and this girl?

"It's a beautiful day to save lives. Derek used to say that." Alex looked at her sympathetically, but still confused.

"She was talking to the patient we were treating this morning. We were getting ready to take him up to the OR and she looked at him, squeezed his hand and said 'It's a beautiful day to save lives'. That was Derek's thing. It wasn't an actual thing. It was Derek's. How did she know? How does she know about 'it's a beautiful day to save lives?" Alex looked at Meredith who now had tears burning her eyes. He grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Do you want me to find out?" Meredith considered it, but she knew this was something she wanted to find out for herself.

"No. I need to do this myself." Alex gave her another tight squeeze and kissed her forehead.

"Page me if you need me." Meredith nodded and left the room to go find Winnie.

* * *

Meredith walked up to the ICU where the patient she had just operated on was. She figured Winnie would be up there as Jo was supposed to be up there monitoring the patient. Meredith walked up to the nurses' station and noticed Jo standing there. She was watching her interns in the patient's room check vitals and monitor his situation.

"Oh, Dr. Grey", Jo made notice to Meredith as soon as she walked by, "My interns are keeping an eye on the patient. His vitals have remained stable and…" Meredith cut her off before she even had a chance to finish.

"Your intern, Dr. Thompson, Winnie. What do you know about her?" Jo responded to her question, even though she was confused.

"Umm, not much. I know she's 26 and she's from Seattle. She went to Harvard I think. She seems like she could be good. Reacts well." Meredith nodded and thanked Jo for the information.

Meredith stayed at the nurse's station and just watched her patient. The interns came in and out, keeping up with checks on the patient, but Meredith just watched. She watched those interns, but in particular she watched Winnie. She watched every move she made. Jo and two of her interns had gone downstairs for a consult in the ER while Winnie and Kaitlyn remained with the patient. Suddenly the monitors in the patient's room started going off. Meredith hopped up from her chair in the nurses' station and ran in.

"Talk to me. What's going on?" The interns stood there frozen for a second, not knowing how to respond. Meredith pushed them aside and started working on the patient. She noticed his pressure start to drop and his heart rate start to speed up. She instructed one of the interns to check his pupils. Winnie proceeded to check the patient noticing one of his pupils was blown.

"Page Dr. Shepherd" Meredith instructed and Kaitlyn ran to the nurse's station to page. She also paged Jo because she had remembered Jo's rule. A few minutes later Amelia and Jo both came running. Amelia checked the patient and determined that he needed to go back to the OR. Meredith agreed, so Amelia and Jo left with the patient. Winnie stood at the nurse's desk and wrote down some notes. Kaitlyn had left to go watch Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Wilson's surgery so Winnie was all alone. She hadn't even noticed Meredith come up behind her.

"Dr. Thompson." Winnie turned around and noticed Meredith standing there.

"Hello, Dr. Grey." Winnie smiled at her, still somewhat confused and nervous about their encounter earlier that morning.

"Good job on catching the blown pupil. You reacted very well in the situation." Winnie smiled and thanked her. The both of them stood there awkwardly for what seemed like hours before Meredith finally spoke up.

"Dr. Thompson, can I ask you something?" Winnie looked at Meredith, knowing she was going to ask about what happened in the ER that morning. Winnie nodded, unsure of how she should respond.

"This morning in the ER when you were treating the patient, you said something…"

"It's a beautiful day to save lives?" Meredith looked at her unknowing how to react and fearing tears would form in her eyes.

"Yeah that. Where did you learn that?" Winnie could see that what she said struck a sore spot with Dr. Grey, but she was unsure why. She proceeded with caution before she answered.

"About 14 years ago me and my mom were in a car accident. We had been driving on a back road down off the highway after running some errands. This car was behind us and the guy who was driving tried to speed past us but he lost control of the car and hit us. Our car flipped in the air a bunch of times and landed on its side. Me and my mom were trapped inside. I was only 12 at the time, but I really thought we were going to die out there." Meredith looked at her both curiously and sympathetically which encouraged her to go on.

"So we were there trapped and this man came up to our car. He made sure me and my mom were ok. I remember asking him if I was dead and he took my hand a felt my pulse on my wrist and told me I wasn't dead because he could feel my pulse, and that's how you know you're not dead. He assured us we would be alright. He helped me get out of our car and he went a checked on the people in the car that hit us. They were pretty hurt. The guy driving had a pretty bad head injury and the girl had a horrible abdominal injury, but he saved them both. They both lived because of that man. My mom had a broken hip and he helped her get out of our car and then set her hip back in place. When the ambulances finally showed up he helped load everyone in the ambulances and told me he'd come to the hospital tomorrow to check on everyone." Meredith was confused by her story. She wasn't getting any answers.

"So this man, did he show up at the hospital the next day?"

"So, that same night at the hospital I had heard the doctors fighting over a treatment plan for a patient. He was pretty badly injured. Me, being the curious 12-year-old I was wanted to get a closer look. He had an obvious head injury and he couldn't speak, but his eyes were open. When I got closer I realized it was the same man who had helped us in the accident."

It was at that moment Meredith knew. Tears stung her eyes and she wanted to speak but wasn't sure if she knew how.

"Come with me", Meredith motioned to Winnie to follow her and the two of them went into an empty conference room down the hall. Winnie could tell that Meredith was visibly upset.

"Dr. Grey, are you ok?" She wasn't ok, but she wanted to know the rest of the story.

"Just finish your story."

"Ok. So I went to him and I spoke to him. I told him not to die and I felt his pulse. I told him he was alive because I could feel his pulse and he had to stay alive. The doctor who was treating him pulled me away and asked if I knew him. I told her that he had just helped us all in the accident and that he was a surgeon. When they wheeled him out of the trauma room, that was the last time I saw him." Meredith had to ask, but she already knew the answer to her question.

"Do you know what the man's name was?"

"His name was Derek." Before Meredith even had time to react tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

"Dr. Grey?" Winnie was so confused.

"Did I do something?" Meredith shook her head and managed to stumble out a few words.

"So, how do you know about it's a beautiful day to day to save lives?"

"While Derek was helping us at the accident he said it once. I asked him what it was about and he just said it was a thing he says. The last time I seen him, in the ER of that hospital, I said it to him. I told him it was a beautiful day to save lives, and not to die."

By this point Meredith was sobbing. This intern was the last person who spoke to Derek alive. She couldn't believe it. She remembered this girl. She had seen her that night at the hospital, but she never, she never thought that a little girl, a little girl she never knew would be the last person to speak to her husband alive. She knew that Derek had saved people the day he died, but she never imagined meeting one of them. The day Derek died flashed through her mind. _The police showed up at the house. I walked through that stupid hospital. He was already gone when I got there. I signed the forms "Derek? Derek? It's ok. You go, I'll be fine."_ The pain of that day was now fresh in her mind. Winnie spoke again, pulling her from the horrific trance she was in.

"Dr. Grey. I know he was a surgeon. Do you know him?" Meredith who was now sat down in a chair looked at Winnie and nodded and tears continued to fall.

"He _was_ my husband." Winnie was shocked. She couldn't believe it. She owed her life to that man and never got to thank him.

"Wait. Did you say was?" Winnie now with tears in her own eyes looked right at Meredith.

"Derek died that day." Winnie didn't know what to say.

"By the time I got to him, he was gone." Winnie, unsure of what to do, laid her hand on Meredith's shoulder.

"Dr. Grey, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Meredith put her head down not knowing what to say.

"He saved my life and my mom's life. I'm so grateful to him for that. I want you to know, he's the reason I decided to become a doctor. I want to be able to save people just like him." Meredith wiped her tears away and just stared at Winnie. Before Winnie even had time to react Meredith had pulled her in to give her a hug. Winnie wiped her own tears and proceeded to ask Meredith where she should go from here. Meredith looked at her with appreciation in her eyes.

"I want you to be the best surgeon you can be. Do it for Derek. He would want you to be the best." Winnie smiled and nodded. She thanked Dr. Grey and excused herself from the room.

* * *

Meredith sat back down in the conference room. She needed to take in what she just heard. Her thoughts were still running though her head. D _erek saved that girl. She was the last person who spoke to him alive. He's the reason she became a doctor._ She had no words. She was so happy, but at the same time she was so sad. Amelia walked past the conference room and noticed Meredith sitting in there alone.

"Hey Mer, what's up?" Meredith looked up at her cautiously knowing that once Amelia saw her she would have to tell her everything and she was unsure if Amelia could take what she was going to tell her.

"Oh my god, Mer. What's wrong? You're crying."

"Sit down." Amelia looked at her both scared and confused but did as she was told and sat down. "You know Jo's intern, Winnie...Dr. Thompson?"

"Yeah, she was the one who caught our patients blown pupil. She's good." Meredith nodded, "Earlier this morning when she was down in the ER I overheard her talking to the patient. It was before we took him to surgery. She was talking to him, trying to reassure him he was going to be ok." Amelia looked at Meredith confused as to why she was telling this story.

"Ok?"

"She squeezed his hand and said it's a beautiful day to save lives." Amelia now had tears in her eyes.

"That was Derek's thing. How did…"

"Derek saved her and her mother from a car accident 14 years ago." Amelia was shocked.

"14 years? But that…"

"Amelia, she was the last person to talk to Derek alive." Tears now streamed down her face. That girl, a girl she didn't even know, was the last one to talk to her brother.

"But how. How did she. Did she come here looking for Derek?"

"No. She only knew his first name and that he was a surgeon. She didn't know anything about him. She didn't even know he died. She told me the reason she became a surgeon was because of him. She wants to be able to help people like Derek helped her and her mom."

Amelia struggled a small smile. That was just like Derek she thought, trying to be a superhero, wanting to make a big impact on the world.

"Where is she? I'd like to talk to her."

"She just left. I'd say she headed back to the ICU to check on the patient."

Amelia thanked Meredith for telling her. Before leaving she grabbed Meredith's hand and gave it a squeeze. Meredith smiled.

"He was a superhero. He died being a hero."

"He really did. He was very special."

* * *

Amelia left the room and went to find Winnie.

She didn't have to go far. She found her just down the hall talking to another intern.

"Umm, Dr. Thompson, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Meredith told me about you knowing Derek."

"Oh, I, I, didn't know. If I had known, I never would have said…"

"Derek was my brother." Tears stung Amelia's eyes again as she recalled her brother.

"Oh, Dr. Shepherd, I'm so sorry."

Amelia nodded and thanked her.

"You were the last person who ever got to speak or see him alive. I wish I could take that from you, because I would do anything to see to him again. Or at least just get to say goodbye. I never got to say goodbye. You got what I want so bad."

Winnie was speechless. She had no idea about all this. Part of her wanted to run away, but part of her wanted to embrace this. There was clearly a reason why she had met Derek that day. He saved her and now she was here working with his wife and sister.

'Dr. Shepherd, I'm so sorry. I wish you could have been the last one to talk to him. I would never want to take that away. But please know that he changed my life that day. He saved my life but he also made me want to be better. I'm here because of him. I want to be able to save people just like he did."

Amelia had tears streaming down her cheeks and before she even realized she had embraced Winnie in a hug. Amelia stopped and looked at Winnie before speaking again.

"Everything happens for a reason. We lost Derek, but fortunately he was able to instill some of his wisdom in you and it's evident that it has made an impact on you. I'm grateful for that. Even though he's gone, there's still parts of him and reminders of him everywhere. You're one of those reminders."

Winnie smiled at her, "I'm honored Dr. Shepherd."

Amelia wiped her tears and nodded.

"No get back to work, you aren't saving any lives being stood here, and Derek would want you to save lots of lives."

Winnie smiled and walked back towards where her patient was. She couldn't believe what had happened. She remembered the day of the accident so well, but she never imagined what would come from it. She was grateful to have been given a second chance that day, but today she realized she got more than a second chance. She got the chance to make an impact. She has a gift that can save lives and for that she is truly grateful. Today is the first day of the rest of her life. This is her starting line.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the story. I would really like if something like this actually happened in the show. For now this is it. I'm not sure if I'll continue writing more to this story. Please leave reviews and let me know what you think!**


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